Rotary engine



(No Model.) 3 sheets-sheet 1. W. M. WHEILDON.

ROTARY ENGINE. No. 553,086. I Patented Jan. 14, 1896.

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ATTORNEYS,

ANDRIW BLRAHAM.PHOTO-UTHOAWASHINGTDN U C (No Model.) 3 sheets-sheet 2.

W. M. WHEILDON.

ROTARY ENGINE.

No. 553,086. Patented Jan. 14, 1896.

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3 sheets-Sheet (No Model.)

` W. M. WHELDGN.

ROTARY ENGINE.

No. 553,086. Patented Jan. 14, 1896.

"'g i) a D e 'h ,L L .f f y i9 w/rNEssfs; l /NVENOR www ' Arrow/Em AN ORN B GRAHAM PHOTO-um!) WASHMMUNB c UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

WILLIAM MAXWELL VHEILDON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROTARY ENGIN E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 553,086, dated January 14, 1896.

Application filed April l2, 1895.

rotary engines; and it consists in certain improvements hereinafter described, including an improved piston and cylinder, improved means for guiding the piston and driving the shaft, and improved means for lubricating the running parts, the result of these improvements being a reduction of the area of the heat-radiating and frictional surfaces.

Heretofore rotary engines have included a piston hub or drum rotating in a cylinder, the said piston-hub being provided With xed or movable pistons co-operating With conversely corresponding movable or fixed abutments forming a part of the said cylinder. In either construction the friction of the moving parts Was excessive, and the resulting Wear' very great. Moreover, the space required for the said piston hub or drum at once contracted the steam-space and increased the frictioual and heat-radiating surfaces. The object of my invention is to overcome these diiiiculties, and to provide an engine which is simple, compact and efficient.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a side elevation cf my improved rotary engine. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. S is a transverse section of the same. Fig. is an elevation of the inner side of a cylinder-head. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the piston and guides. Fig. G is an elevation of the inner side of a driving-disk. Fig. 7 is a section on line 7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a section on line S 8 of Fig. 3. Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the bore of the cylinder.

The same letters of reference indicate the saine parts in all the figures.

In my rotary engine no piston hub or drum is used. In place thereof the piston a slides in driving-disks Zi, one at each end of the cylinder c, said disks being eccentric to the cylinder and revolving in steam-tight contact with the faces or ends thereof, thus serving as heads therefor. The said disks are keyed Serial No. 545,452. (No model.)

to a driving-shaft fl, which is also eccentric to the said cylinder and rotates in suitable bearings e supported centrally in external cylinder-headsf bolted to eccentric-anges g on the said cylinder. Included between the said external heads and the said eccentricilanges are annular spaces h in Which the said driving-disks revolve, and Which also serve as reservoirs for lubricating-oil, which is by the action of the revolving disks freely distributed to all frictional surfaces of the engine. Attached to the inner face of the said external heads are circular projecting cams'i eccentric with the driving-shaft and concentric With the cylinder, and arranged to be engaged with shoes j which are attached to the iia-nged ends 7.". of the said piston by connecting-necks k2, Fig. 5, extending through slots k3, Figs. 6 and 7, in the said drivingdisks. The said flanged ends of the piston are itted to and slide in recessed guides 71:4 in the said driving-disks. The body of the said piston, through which the driving-shaft eX- tends, is hollow, and is of substantially elliptical form in cross-section, as shown in Fig.

Packing-strips a2 CL2 are located on the exterior of the piston, lsaid strips coinciding with the major axisrof the ellipse and being preferably pressed outwardly by springs into steam-tight contact with the cylinder. The internal surface or bore of the cylinder has a peculiar form, and is the path of revolution of the portions c2 o? of the piston. This path of revolution is determined by a process equivalent to revolving the driving-shaft d and disks l), thus causing the fixed cams e, by their engagement with the shoes) of the piston a, to slide said piston to and fro in the said disks and over the said shaft. The portions @2 of the said piston will be thus caused to describe a path of revolution determined by the relation of the said edges with the said In the present case said path of revolution is that indicated by the solid line c2 in Fig. 9, said line representing the bore of the cylinder, which is of the same form at each side of a plane ai y passing coincidently through the center of the said driving-shaft and the said cams, the diameter of the bore at the said plane being equal to the major axis of the elliptical piston.

The broken circle in 9 represents the outline of the fixed cams i, and O represents the center of the driving-shaft.

The part m constitutes the abutment, and is composed of a spring-actuated packingstrip. The contour of the piston is a surface of revolution d3 generated by the relation of the fixed point Q0 with the moving piston, and is such that the said surface is at all times in steam-tight contact with the said packingstrip. The steam ports m and n are close to the piston-edges a2 d2, and are between the said edges and the abutment when the pis-V ton is in the position shown in Fig. 3. Either of the said ports may be used as an inlet, the remaining port serving as an exhaust. Hence the engine may be run in either direction and readily reversed.

The operation is as follows: Supposethat the piston is in the position shown in -Fig. 3 and that steam is admitted at the port m to the space at the left of the piston. As the steam cannot pass the abutment fr, the pressure acting on one side of the piston tends to turn the piston a in the direction of the arrow about theshaft d, said pressure being transmitted through the flanges t' to the driving disks Z) and shaft d, the latter being thus ro tated in its bearings. The cams 7j, by engagement with the shoesj, constrain the piston to slide in the guides 7a4 in the said driving-disks and follow the bore of the said cylinder. Then the piston has made half a revolution the other side of the said piston is in turn subjected to the pressure of the steam and advanced thereby, the exhaust escaping by the port oz.. Thus the operation becomes continuous and the rotation of the driving-shaft established and maintained.

I claim- 1. In a rotary engine, the combination with the cylinder and the piston both formed as shown, of the drivin g and guiding piston disks and the cams external to the said cylinder, arranged to constrain said piston as the latter is revolved in the cylinder.

2. A rotary engine comprising a rotary pis-` ton formed as shown and having fixed bearing edges, d2, a2, coinciding with the major axis of its cross-section, driving and guiding disks engaging the said piston, fixed cams at the ends of the said piston whereby the piston is constrained, so that the said bearing edges have the described path of revolution, and a cylinder having a bore formed as devfixed cams engaged with the piston and controlling its sliding movements.

Li. In a rotary engine, the combination of the cylinder having the eccentric flanges g, the header, and the fixed cams; the shaft having the driving-disks; the piston formed to cooperate with the bore of the cylinder and the abutment thereof, said piston being provided with iianges engaged with the driving-disks` and shoes affixed to said flanges and engaged with the fixed cams, as set forth.

5. In a rotary engine, the combination of the cylinder having a bore formed as described and havin g a stationary abutment, a springactuated abutment packing-strip, induction and eduetion ports, and eccentric flanges; a hollow piston formed as described and having spring-actuated packing strips, rectangular flanged ends, and shoes bolted thereto; driving-disks rotating in contact with the ends of said cylinder, serving as heads therefor and having recessed guides in Which the said piston slides; a driving-'shaft affixed to said disks and extending through but not in contact with the piston; external cylinder heads bolted to the said eccentric fianges inclosing lubricant-containing spaces in which the said drivin g-disks revolve and provided with central bearings supporting the driving shaft; and fixed cams engaged with the shoes of the piston.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 3d day of April, A. D. 1895.

IVM. MAXWTELII IVHEILDON.

ivitnesses:

C. F. BROWN, A. D, HARRISON.

IOO 

